Unfortunately i will join the army to serve my 9 month in a few days and i can't buy the new Nile album right now! :(

It's the first album i'll buy when i'm able to...I'm sure the album is a total KILLER and nothing less than this! I'm sure that your drums George are still crying in pain! I wouldn't like to be your snare drum!!! I hope to see a new video soon on your youtube account! Have a nice tour!!!

Hey george i just wanted to clear up a rumor that ive heard. I read somewhere that you are trying to stop doing your swivel motion with your feet because its apparently causing damage to your knees, is this true?

Hey george i just wanted to clear up a rumor that ive heard. I read somewhere that you are trying to stop doing your swivel motion with your feet because its apparently causing damage to your knees, is this true?

That's not the first time I've heard that about swiveling. Curious to know if it's true or not myself.

Quick question to George. I've seen your videos and it seems like you have a CRAZY high number of pedals under there. What the heck are they all for?

__________________As flies to wanton boys, so are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport.

Unfortunately i will join the army to serve my 9 month in a few days and i can't buy the new Nile album right now! :(

It's the first album i'll buy when i'm able to...I'm sure the album is a total KILLER and nothing less than this! I'm sure that your drums George are still crying in pain! I wouldn't like to be your snare drum!!! I hope to see a new video soon on your youtube account! Have a nice tour!!!

Kinda...
What i said is that i don't bother anymore and that many people give so much attention to this cause they think it will affect their speed, which doesn't.I saw many drummers on YouTube explain it completely wrong, that had nothing to do with what i do and also mention my name there like i am the inventor of this or something...
So i had to say what i think to everyone asks...You can tell in some of these videos that what they show is NOT healthy, it's a very weird motion and definitely can hurt somebody.

Quick question to George. I've seen your videos and it seems like you have a CRAZY high number of pedals under there. What the heck are they all for?

Right now i am using even more, but that's only for my personal project, i don't use all these pedals for Nile. So from left to right will be:
1.Ribbon Crasher/2.Foot Snare/3.Hi Hat/4.Left Kick and
5.Right Kick/6.Remote Hi Hat/7.Electronic Kick
I'm working on my personal album right now and this is where you will see me using all of these, i try to push it as much as it goes ;)

By the way, Intense Metal Drumming is incredible for instruction. Even without doing anything at the set, I've learned a hell of a lot just from watching and listening to the various bits of wisdom.

Thanks a lot,
i tried to include many workouts and info in there and also not stick with blast beats so much. I know people would like to see me talking about blast beats for hours but i think it would be very stupid to spend 2 hours explaining....a single stroke roll....cause this is what the blast beat is.
Blast Beats are really really easy to understand and everyone knows how to do it by watching a transcription or a quick example.The point is HOW to do it, HOW you get into it,HOW to make it groove and HOW you get it up there on these insane tempos............this is what people needs and this is my main point on the DVD.

well in terms of speed he's pretty untouchable. Thats all I admire tho

Thanks,
extreme music most times goes over people's heads, it sounds silly to some but there is a lot more in this music. There is technique and years of practice, there is song structure, there is musicality which doesn't have room for any mistakes, groove which is VERY tough to achieve because of speed, fill ideas and licks which sometimes are impossible to fit in time, coordination and balance that keeps you in tense for hours.....
Being an extreme drummers this is what i needed to show, this is where i can offer education and motivate people. It's funny when i see people putting every drummer in categories but this is life.... :-)

Anyone who thinks George is in any way one-dimensional or limited just needs to watch his DVD. The explanations of going with and against the riff plus the dissection of licks and fills is superb. There's a lot more than just "hey here's a blast beat, now here's how to go fast".

__________________As flies to wanton boys, so are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport.

Thanks a lot,
i tried to include many workouts and info in there and also not stick with blast beats so much. I know people would like to see me talking about blast beats for hours but i think it would be very stupid to spend 2 hours explaining....a single stroke roll....cause this is what the blast beat is.
Blast Beats are really really easy to understand and everyone knows how to do it by watching a transcription or a quick example.The point is HOW to do it, HOW you get into it,HOW to make it groove and HOW you get it up there on these insane tempos............this is what people needs and this is my main point on the DVD.

I've been trudging my way through all the speed/endurance/coordination workouts you outlined, and they're definitely intense. A blast beat is really easy to understand, the best a DVD can do (which yours does) is give a good workout routine to build up the ability to go quickly. My calves are pretty pissed off at me right now, and I'm only going around 140-150bpm, haha!

__________________As flies to wanton boys, so are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport.

hey George, u rock! But i have a few questions,
1. When you do the swivel technique on your pedals, are you doing double strokes, like a RRLL Pattern, or are you doing a straight RLRLRLRL?
2. Why do you need triggers? I saw on one of your videos that you said you cant play metal without triggers, why? Couldn't you just turn up the mic in your bass drums?
3. Do you use your fingers or wrists to play your crazy blasts? Cuz I tried using my fingers to control the sticks but i cant get enough velocity going.

Pretty sure for #2 there'd just be too much "mud" if you turned up the mics that high. There's simply no way to get the kind of attack that you'd get at slower speeds, which means with the volume cranked it'd sound less like a clearly delineated line of kicks and more like a wash with pulses.

__________________As flies to wanton boys, so are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport.

yes, it will sound muddy. playing live death metal/heavy genres in 'loud' venues without at least a kick trigger is a bad idea imo. unless you don't care about how your band sounds, in which case feel free.

Yeah, I saw that, but there is no info for US shipping. I know I could just enter my cc and I'd get a bill in US dollars for what ever the exchange rate is, but it doesn't say worldwide shipping, and I know the extra fees of shipping overseas are sometimes quite a bit more.

yeah that's true. have you tried e-mailing him yet? (the contact e-mail on that page) i'm sure he has somewhere that is selling them in the US, i know there are a ton of guys from sickdrummer etc that bought them in the US.

hey George, u rock! But i have a few questions,
1. When you do the swivel technique on your pedals, are you doing double strokes, like a RRLL Pattern, or are you doing a straight RLRLRLRL?

Yes, straight singles.
I never do doubles, at least never for the fast stuff anyways.It's all singles, with or without swivel, there isn't much difference in there.

Quote:

2. Why do you need triggers? I saw on one of your videos that you said you cant play metal without triggers, why? Couldn't you just turn up the mic in your bass drums?

Yes, but it just doesn't work.
Playing at those speeds triggers are necessary, not only to keep the intensity on the shows (metal shows NEEDS loud and clean kicks) but in order to keep the band together on stage.My bands, always follows my kick, the need a clean kick more than i do so they can lock with me.At those speeds, you need a clean sample kick so you know what's up.
Also, it's the drum itself.You just can't make a bass drum sound that clean at those speeds because of the air inside the drum and the mic possition.

I hear people sayind triggering is cheat and stuff like this,well it's not since you are still playing the drum, but it's the speed you get on the drum and the drum is too boomy to respond clearly.I also hear people talking bad about triggers when:
a) They are not able to go fast, they can't so they think 180bpm is the same with 250bpm+. Wrong, it's a totally different world.
b) They use mics and they compress the shit out of the drum, ha ha. This is exactly the same thing, compressors / gates etc. is kinda like triggering.
Now, can someone play the same fast without triggers??? Of course, speed has nothing to do with triggering, it's all about feet.

Quote:

3. Do you use your fingers or wrists to play your crazy blasts? Cuz I tried using my fingers to control the sticks but i cant get enough velocity going.

I use wrists, Moeller motion.
It's just the way i learned and i am happy with it since i can get a lot more control and power.Still, this is just a personal preference.

Pretty sure for #2 there'd just be too much "mud" if you turned up the mics that high. There's simply no way to get the kind of attack that you'd get at slower speeds, which means with the volume cranked it'd sound less like a clearly delineated line of kicks and more like a wash with pulses.

Exactly my friend, it doesn't really work.Especially when you get more than 110db on stage...

Yeah. Triggers are pretty much the standard for fast metal. Now George obviously rails against ABUSING triggers, but not using them at all ain't gonna work out.

Believe me, i never use triggers outside Nile anymore.Only cause i love having dynamics on my kicks and i love the natural kick sound.
Triggering is a part of music today, i've sen more and more drummers using tiggers on every drum no matter how fast they play.Heavy Metal Drummers,Rock Drummers, Pop drummers...To me that's a bit sad, like Sound Replacing in the studio.I prefer accoustic drums 100 times.

Believe me, i never use triggers outside Nile anymore.Only cause i love having dynamics on my kicks and i love the natural kick sound.
Triggering is a part of music today, i've sen more and more drummers using tiggers on every drum no matter how fast they play.Heavy Metal Drummers,Rock Drummers, Pop drummers...To me that's a bit sad, like Sound Replacing in the studio.I prefer accoustic drums 100 times.

Not that I like to name names (Joey Jordison), but I've seen some metal drummers that trigger literally every drum and cymbal surface on their kit. It definitely is sad, and to be honest I'm not really a huge fan of the sound of triggers in general. But if you're playing 250bpm there's just no way to avoid it, I suppose.

To me, my problem with triggers and whatever else has nothing to do with whether or not it's "cheating", just the sound it makes. I've heard drummers on albums that weren't that fast where the whole kit's been run through filters and processors and it really sounds like sh!t.

Also, and forgive me if I'm mistaken here George, but I've heard that some drummers use triggers SPECIFICALLY to remove dynamics. For example, that gravity blasting can be a problem because the upstroke won't have the same power as the down, so the snare is triggered so it sounds the same both ways. I can't do a gravity blast to save my life, but that's just one example I've heard.

__________________As flies to wanton boys, so are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport.

I know it's a drummer's forum and we all talk about drums, speed, technique etc. but there is something else great going on here too! We can talk like friends with some of the greatest drummers in the world! George is one of them! Gavin Harrison is another one! Todd Sucherman a third one and many more of course! What i mean is that we have to say a huge bravo and thank you to all you guys because you find some time to talk with us...the mortal ones! It's great honor for me and i want to believe that all of the drummers who write in this thread feel the same! And i can say from experience that George Kollias is one of the best drummers and one the greatest guys out there!

And some drum ideas now...George if you find some time listen to this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6kvOKWrCAo
I've been practicing doubles on the feet for some time now and i played in the beginning of the song and generally i play a lot of foot-based patterns that are really challenging!
I'm waiting for a comment when you're able to write one!

I've listened to a fair bit of Nile, I quite enjoyed Annihilation of the wicked as well as some of your other work, I found it had a lot more depth to it from a musical stand-point then most death metal, you were playing fast but I could hear technique to it.

One question I have which you may not get asked all the time is about achieving high foot speed with a single peddle.

Do you believe it is essential for fast kicks that you utilize a double-kick pedal or can you reach some fairly impressive speeds with a single foot?

I noticed you said the right foot often leads, how essential is it to have the left foot complimenting it?

The reason I ask is because some friends have been showing me a lot of metal drummers who do bass kick fills and they believe it will fit the dynamics of a couple of songs but I'm quite unwilling to move my high hat away from the snare, I like having it close and I like the ability to clap it and create different sounds with pressure on the high hat pedal.

Was just watching Intense Metal Drumming again, felt like bumping the thread 'cause George kicks ass.

I've discovered one big problem I'm having with single foot blast practice: at certain speeds my power just collapses. I don't "tap", more like the opposite. The beater has a lot of motion, but it doesn't hit the drum head very hard at all. It's really messing me up.

__________________As flies to wanton boys, so are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport.

I have a question concerning pedal work and thought you'd be the right to ask.

I am currently not using double bass due to the fact that its inconvient for me atm. So i've made the best of it and since my favorite band is Led Zeppelin i've been practicing my double kicks and foot a lot in general in order to jam along with Bonzo. But after a talk about a more experienced friend about pedal technique he explained that most of the better drummers in the field use heel-down only due to it being more healthy and efficient at a higher level. So i came home and watched some of your vidoes yet agian and saw that you played heel-down all the time.

I've only been playing for little less than a year but im very active and i drum as much as i can everyday which means around an hour if im lucky and i would like to be able to use my foot effectively while drumming for quite sometime. So my question is: Is Heel-down superior?

I have a question concerning pedal work and thought you'd be the right to ask.

I am currently not using double bass due to the fact that its inconvient for me atm. So i've made the best of it and since my favorite band is Led Zeppelin i've been practicing my double kicks and foot a lot in general in order to jam along with Bonzo. But after a talk about a more experienced friend about pedal technique he explained that most of the better drummers in the field use heel-down only due to it being more healthy and efficient at a higher level. So i came home and watched some of your vidoes yet agian and saw that you played heel-down all the time.

I've only been playing for little less than a year but im very active and i drum as much as i can everyday which means around an hour if im lucky and i would like to be able to use my foot effectively while drumming for quite sometime. So my question is: Is Heel-down superior?

Sorry for the lack of puncutation and commas.

Regards Victor

Was just watching Intense Metal Drumming again, felt like bumping the thread 'cause George kicks ass.

I've discovered one big problem I'm having with single foot blast practice: at certain speeds my power just collapses. I don't "tap", more like the opposite. The beater has a lot of motion, but it doesn't hit the drum head very hard at all. It's really messing me up.

Not that I like to name names (Joey Jordison), but I've seen some metal drummers that trigger literally every drum and cymbal surface on their kit. It definitely is sad, and to be honest I'm not really a huge fan of the sound of triggers in general. But if you're playing 250bpm there's just no way to avoid it, I suppose.

To me, my problem with triggers and whatever else has nothing to do with whether or not it's "cheating", just the sound it makes. I've heard drummers on albums that weren't that fast where the whole kit's been run through filters and processors and it really sounds like sh!t.

Also, and forgive me if I'm mistaken here George, but I've heard that some drummers use triggers SPECIFICALLY to remove dynamics. For example, that gravity blasting can be a problem because the upstroke won't have the same power as the down, so the snare is triggered so it sounds the same both ways. I can't do a gravity blast to save my life, but that's just one example I've heard.

There is no cheating with triggers, in fact i find it harder to play with triggers like i do without them. The sound is super clean and there is no chances for mistakes...

In metal we don;t use dynamics on kicks, that's right. We use a flat sample to keep the intensity up there and lead the band. Triggers are more important for the rest of the band than the drummer...they need to hear a clean bass drum to lock with the drummer.

I like with or without triggers, i mostly play with them but like i said many times for metal triggers are a necessity.

I don't like triggering the snare or anything else, i think it takes away all the feel from drummer.It all depends on the drummer of course, if your band needs triggers then ok. As for gravity blasts i am not a fan at all, single had roll is great but in a blastbeat doesn't do it for me...